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 Let's
look at one more way to generate interest
in a song before we look at some Jazz specific
ways. What if we were to stop playing,
stop counting, and stay perfectly still
for a moment or two? This puts the audience
and the player(s) in a state of tension
and they will stay that way (if you don't
stop too long) until you play the next set
of notes, rhythms, or chords. It's great
fun to add into a song, especially at the
last few bars (measures) of a song.
In
contrast to a complete stop, what if we were
to hold a note or a chord for an indeterminate
length of time? This is also great for the
end of a song. One or several holds can be
used to generate a big finish to a song. When
used in conjunction with a complete stop first,
it really adds excitement to the finish of
a song. Drummers playing a wild solo at the
end of a song are most commonly playing this
solo during a hold.
Look
at the figure above. The two diagonal lines
in the first measure (between the first and
second quarter notes) tell the player to stop
completely, abruptly and stay perfectly still.
These lines are referred to as a "Grand
Pause," G.P., or "The Cut Off."
The symbol over the last quarter note in the
first measure is tells the player to hold
this note. This symbol is referred to as a
"Fermatas," "The Birds Eye,"
or "The Hold." If you are playing
or listening to classical music, formal terms
like The Conductor's Score, Grand Pause, or
Fermatas are used to describe these interesting
musically related things and ideas. If you
are in the Jazz world, you will hear less
formal terms used. Jazz is a less formal way
of doing music. Being a Jazz musician myself,
I would use terms like The Chart, The Cut
Off, and The Hold (or birds eye) to describe
these interesting musically related things
and ideas.
I
have a bias and I will tell what that bias
is here. This does not mean that you
should develop the same bias. Follow your
own path and not a path someone else has made
for themselves. I chose my path many years
ago based on many factors, musical, personal
taste, environmental, and etc. You must do
the same for yourself. My bias is:
"I believe Jazz to be the ultimate musical
expression. I believe Jazz to be in a higher
form of music then Classical. I believe that
most early composers were in fact Jazz musicians
that were asked to write down their solos
so that other people could play and enjoy
them. I consider live performance of Classical
music to be boring in the same way as I would
find watching the same movie over and over
to be boring. Performers of Classical music
have many rules and restrictions to the original
score. Classical performances offer little
risk on the part of the players or the Conductor.
Jazz in it's essence is risk taking and creation
at it's highest level in music. Musical scores
become reference guides and not rule books
in the musical world of Jazz. Each player
is able to express themselves to any degree
in the Jazz format. Making music without reading
it from a page becomes an exercise in on-the-spot
compositions. The players' performance risk
is much greater in Jazz then in Classical,
but the rewards are equally greater for the
player and the audience. This is my personal
opinion, and with this said, lets talk Jazz....."
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